Microbrasserie Le Castor is one of my favorite breweries in Quebec. Since my first taste of Yakima IPA I have been mesmerized by the amazing flavored beers this brewery produces.  The great thing about Le Castor is they brew their beer with organic ingredients one of the few that do. Usually the word organic gives you a bit of a scare because you feel it may taste different from what you are used to. But I have to say organic is delicious and taste no different from your usual beer. The flavor is not compromised, it is simply brewed with organic ingredients. The other great thing about Le Castor is their well-designed labels, even though all craft beer has some great art work I’m talking more about the overall design. The back label really sells it for me because they have some amazing graphics on the displaying food pairings.

Thus far I have had the honor of trying their famous Yakima IPA, and although not a typical West Coast style IPA, it is a phenomenal IPA and of the best out of Quebec, at least in my book. I have also tried their amazing Session Houblon a session IPA, which sits on the lighter side of ABV but doesn’t compromise in flavor or hoppyness. The ISA or India Session Ales along with Wild Ales seem to be a new trend occurring in the craft beer world. The ISA was brewed to maintain its intense hoppyness with a reduced ABV so beer drinkers can satisfy their taste buds with that amazing hoppyness over and over without getting too far into the drunk world. Le Castor’s Session Houblon is a thunderbolt with amazing flavor and amazing hoppyness. Although these are both beers I’ve tried previously and enjoyed numerous times, this post is about two other beers by Le Castor which I recently tried, Le Castor’s Citra Weisse, a German style wheat ale, and Le Castor’s Farmhouse Houblon, a Saison.

 

Farmhouse Houblon Batch #3

Saison

ABV 6.3%

Smell is very rustic and taste is a very nice soury bittery fruitiness. You can feel the essence of a saison with the finish of a rustic farmhouse ale. What I really like about this beer is that you can have it fresh to enjoy the fresh hops or you can let it sit to enjoy the rustic farmhouse flavors. In that sense it is a very diverse beer, and a great one in my book! Even though my obsession is with Pale Ales, IPAs, and DIPAs, this was a refresher for me in my craft drinking journey. I’ve been recently sipping on some Saison styles to get a different feel for some other great craft beers. And of the few Saisons I’ve been consuming this one was a great one.

I always read the label after I have judged the beer but, and here is what the bottle states on the back label.

4.5/5

“Brewed with barley & rye, this farmhouse style ale is fermented with both Saison & wild Brettanomyces yeasts. Our Objective was to create a beer that would evolve in the bottle, and engage the beer-enthusiast no matter when it was opened. Drink fresh to enjoy more of the dry-hop aromatics, or later for a more rustic, farmhouse character. Goes great with cheese plate at the end of a long, hard day.”

The images say to enjoy with grilled fish, cheese, chicken, and salads.

 

Citra Weisse

Wheat Ale

ABV 5%

Smells very rustic, has that hoppy sour taste with a very smooth and light finish. Leaves a nice tingle of crispness on your palate. It does a great job bringing out the floral aroma from the Citra hop, which is known to have an intense aroma and flavor. With this style the Citra hop isn’t as intense as it usually is but the essence of the Citra hop is integrated well. To me the first thing that came to mind was sitting on my balcony during a hot summer day and enjoying this fine piece of wheat engineering mixed in with that amazingly popular IPA hop. Citra is king, and I will always enjoy a beer with Citra. With this beer I can feel the flavors of a hefeweizen but with amazing twist mixing a saison and an IPA style.

4.5/5

“The German ale yeast in this wheat beer produces aromas of banana, clove and bubble gum. Added to this are low residual sugars and a dry hopping regime that produces a very sessionable summer ale. Goes perfectly with very hot days, friends and your favorite terrace”

Written by HopCitizen, Photography by HopCitizen